Madison

In light of Gov. Scott Walker's emerging victorious from the recall election Tuesday, you might expect that I would write a scathing indictment of our electorate or at least a post with lots of hand-wringing. You will receive both. However, you will also receive a scathing indictment of the Democratic Party, or at least all parts of it beneath the Executive Branch. Please bear in mind that my assessment of the present climate reflects fairly little of my own beliefs and wishes, but rather attempts to be a sober, yet imaginative depiction.

The marketplace has become attuned to the fact that white people--most particularly those around the middle of the socioeconomic scale--are differentiating themselves now more than at any time in over a generation. The Great Society has, in my estimation, failed utterly. As soon as white people had sufficient mobility and prosperity, they escaped the city. Indeed, we now see the odd spectacle of rings of suburbia marked by vacant storefronts as development moves further and further out (the Northwest suburb of Menomonee Falls is an example of this).

To those who have escaped, the personal automobile--holding, at most, the immediate family--is the key to their freedom from the city. The ability to drive door to door and enjoy ample parking is a basic quality-of-life expectation. It won't be much impaired by rising gas prices or environmental consequences. Possible translation: we'll keep gutting education until the vocabulary of the average 21-year-old is reduced to three words from its current 64, so long as we can keep paying for cars, fuel and highways. Global warming? There could be balls of fire raining down from the sky before Mr. or Mrs. Mequon would hand over the keys to the SUV.

Except for its sports facilities and airport, Mr. and Mrs. Waukesha County may well see Milwaukee as little more than a place to dump their loud, foul-mouthed, binge-drinking offspring between the ages of 18 and 25, or perhaps go on the Lakefront Brewery tour. If this were Madison, that could be turned into a nice profit center to fund a great quality of life for more permanent residents. The dilemma here is the abyss of intractable poverty in the central city, and the layers upon layers of profiteering and waste that surround it. No real strategy or seriousness of intent ever seems to be demonstrated in attacking this problem, and I wonder if that isn't because inner city chaos provides the centrifugal force that is so profitable for so many.

While civic leaders that cater to the region's majority populace ponder such absurdities as a new, glittering sports palace for Downtown, they ought to be pointing out what long commutes and parental absence are doing to middle-class families. There's no reason that holds water for allowing the problem of central city poverty and crime to get as outrageous as it has. Build some badly needed highways to split up the central city into manageable sectors, then police the hell out of them. Promote strategic gentrification to further this end (considering where I live, I'm fairly sure some fumbling attempts are already being made). For better or worse, those who have no assets and draw government benefits to live are dependent on whatever the government decrees--and that's by no means limited to minorities. Right now, it decrees the status quo for the central city. It doesn't decree measurable benchmarks for improvement, but instead pours a seemingly bottomless cup of redistributed wealth.

Too often, the Democratic establishment doesn't credit the electorate with enough intelligence to see through this. I'm quite sure those in neighboring counties, and indeed much of our county, have had enough. Where are the bold, alpha male Democratic leaders?

My girlfriend and I have had some wonderful dining and shopping experiences in the past month or so. Generally, Milwaukee seems to be saddled with the bottom of the barrel in every category--the worst and most overpriced grocery stores, "Apu mart" convenience stores and restaurants and cafes that offer low quality for the money. As I was reminded last week, that includes coffee outlets that seem to attract about three customers a day and will be more than happy to sell you heavily marked-up bakery and barely passable coffee.
I've thought about what makes Madison's seemingly superior scene possible. Different urban landscape--Madison has less sprawl, so hospitality venues can cater to both urban dwellers and suburbanites. The grocery situation has me a little stumped--I suppose high prices are a result of profiteering in view of the large number of people drawing government benefits, but I would have thought that a better value-for-money option than Sendik's would have come in to fill the void.

If I had to choose one thing as the symbol of the early 21st Century world, it would be the truck. Anyone who has ever driven from Madison to Milwaukee after midnight will surely know where the inspiration for that statement came from. Not drunks, but eighteen-wheelers are the primary obstacles to be avoided. Logistics--an area with which I have some familiarity--has gone from an adjunct of business to the end-all and be-all. No businessperson, and indeed no worker, dare fail to see himself or herself as being in the logistics business. In the Western world, the wealth-creating economic activity that is left to us is basically highly advanced manufacturing. Highly advanced logistics is part and parcel of that. Businesses of all kinds must process increasingly small units of work that are increasingly time-critical. What better example than that shown in this image--the dedicated truck dropping off supplies for Starbucks.

In what I call the "inburb" where I live and work--the island of relative homogeneity just outside this major city's Downtown--a UPS truck (not necessarily the same one) makes its rounds virtually throughout the business day. Need I even mention the ultimate example, Jimmy John's? In most cases, one sandwich at a time is shuttled from the store to some young-human warehouse like my apartment building.

My D8 and I just enjoyed an extended yours-truly's-birthday celebration consisting of two overnight stays (for her, since she was driving in from Madison--I don't mean to imply any funny business) at the Holiday Inn in Pewaukee and meals at the neighboring Thunder Bay Inn and Machine Shed restaurants. I was fully prepared to write a glowing review of all three establishments, not least because the Machine Shed has bizarrely good coffee. They sell multiple varieties of whole-bean coffee in their gift shop. My girlfriend asked about the coffee variety served in the restaurant, and a manager offered to sell us a pound of it as a special service, at a price based on the wholesale cost of the coffee.

Tonight, I learned from a cursory Google search that all three businesses are owned by the Heart of America Group, owned by the Machine Shed's founder, Michael Whalen. Simply click the link to gain an impression of the kind of policies they advocate through lobbying organization National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). I can't spend a dollar without it going to some cult (as in Shawano) or Koch brothers-affiliated climate-change deniers (as this week in Pewaukee). Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

At least we've identified a few solidly left-leaning restaurants and coffeehouses in Madison. So the Machine Shed's founder is bankrolling a climate change-denying lobbying organization? That reflects motives that would seem to be about as selfless as my becoming a millionaire so that I can lobby Washington to pass a law mandating that all Midwesterners read a coffee blog on a daily basis. The only reason those business are even there is because of the traffic on I-94 between Madison (and, by extension, Minneapolis) and Milwaukee. What are three words for that situation again, kids?

There are only three words to describe the lack of efficient train service between Milwaukee and Madison: completely fucking ridiculous. These three words describe so many things in our economy. On a more on-topic note, it describes the slowness coffeehouses demonstrate in responding to the exploding (in some cases, rather literally) popularity of single-serve coffee and the changing demographics of its customer base. Driving from Madison back to Chicago along I-94 last night starting at 6:20 or so, traffic was jam-packed, most notably with trucks. To my mind, the inefficiency of serving this major route for goods and people with individual vehicles is nothing short of insane.

For all of my real or perceived crankiness in evaluating Southern Wisconsin's coffee scene, rarely do I go to a coffeehouse and simply think it sucks. Right now, I'm in one such place. It's an old granddaddy as coffeehouses go, Madison's Espresso Royale. Seems like a tourist trap, and I guess this is a city of intellectual "tourists," as it were. For all my pro-pedestrian views, I'll cede the point that these kinds of dense, pedestrian-oriented areas don't exactly create Darwinian conditions for coffeehouses. Those Darwinian conditions exist in a place like Milwaukee County (at least west of the Milwaukee River), where customers can get in their car and drive to the next cafe relatively painlessly. I'm drinking a soy latte that at least makes up for in volume what it lacks in high-quality taste.

More discouraging was my visit to St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church for the Saturday evening Mass. Speaking of differences between Madison and Milwaukee, another is that Milwaukee's Catholics (of whom I am not one, at least not officially) definitely enjoy the funkygroovy stream of Rome-based religion. You'd think Madison would be the more religiously liberal place, but this Mass had a markedly retro bent--I'd call it dreary in a way I've never quite experienced in a Catholic church before. The hymns were sung at dirge tempo, and the priest gave this interminable, boring homily during which he lost his train of thought twice. It's odd that in a Madison parish, I would encounter the kind of tedium I grew up with in my childhood church.

In our times--and in this place--I find that particularly tragic. The momentous events of last year were broadcast from here to the entire nation, and perhaps even the world. In no place is the debate over renegotiation of the social contract playing out as much as it is here. I looked back with some sadness at the world as I saw it with nineteen or twenty-year old eyes during my first trips to Madison. Here more than anywhere, the civic realm, academia and religion coalesced into a soaring worldview, and it was thrilling to fantasize about it. Twenty years later, religion and the humanities seem to be asleep in the conductor's car, having long since relinquished the wheel. I think the challenge for those who feel passionately about such things is to find a way for the treasures of the mind and spirit to cut through the crapola--the phones and Facebook and, heck, the blogs, which all have their rightful place but have somehow turned us into a nation of inattentive live-ers.

No, the woman on the left isn't wearing a burqa, it's just really cold today. I'm at Steep & Brew drinking a super-delicious mug of Colombian coffee. I'm going to try to make this a five-coffeehouse visit--it's been that kind of week. This would be number two.

Tomorrow, I'm headed to Madison for my Aunt's 80th birthday party. Since the weather is supposed to be pretty nice, I'll be heading over to the Glacial Drumlin Trail in the afternoon, so I probably won't have time for much coffeehouse-ing. (Next year, I want to walk the 52-mile stretch from Cottage Grove to Waukesha in two days.) However, I'll be sure to make a quick stop at one of the shops in the East Towne area, probably Victor Allen's. My recent encounter with Victor Allen's coffee in Shawano still lingers positively in my mind, and from what I've read about the man (who actually sold much of his share in the company), he and I have a lot of similar views.

Since 1971, Fraboni's Italian Specialties & Delicatessen has been serving up a huge variety of fresh soups, sandwiches, pasta salads and entrees, as well as fine imported and domestic meats and cheeses. The Madison mainstay's location on Regent Street is incredibly close to the house I grew up in, so my family has had the pleasure of sampling the deli's fare from the very beginning. My husband and I stopped off to grab ourselves a quick yet satisfying lunch this past weekend and, as expected, Fraboni's lived up to its storied history.

Fraboni's is as it has always been: a relatively small space packed with yummy goodies. Upon entering, we immediately headed for the bread isle to snag a box of light and crispy rosemary breadsticks. Then it was on to the deli counter to choose from a copious bounty of cold salads. Our picks: Pasta Pesto, Veggie Rotini and Four Bean Salad. Oh, and we simply had to have the homemade Garlic Toasties, too, because no Fraboni meal is complete without 'em.

The Pasta Pesto is a favorite of mine--a creamy mix of good sized conchiglie (conch shell) pasta, peas and tiny bits of crab. The Veggie Rotini, boasting black olives, green peppers, red onions and a very light vinaigrette, is a nice interpretation of the cold pasta basic. Last but not least, the Four Bean Salad is a healthy medley of kidney, garbanzo (chickpea), green and wax beans, accented with onion, celery and red pepper, and covered in a tangy vinaigrette.

Though we chose not to partake in any of the deli meats and cheeses this time 'round, I definitely suggest you do so as we've had some of the best from this traditional deli. For those of you who enjoy munching and nibbling while surrounded by nature, Fraboni's a perfect place to throw together a picnic. Unfortunately, they do not carry wine at the Regent Street deli, however, they do have a large selection at the Monona location.

Friendly service is the hallmark of Fraboni's and with two congenial deli workers on hand during our visit mission was accomplished. We headed out the door with our minds focused in great anticipation of the feast yet to come.

My hubby Kevin and I happened to be in Madison to visit my father this past weekend and, whilst out and about on Saturday, we all decided to stop in at Mickey's Tavern for lunch. Established in 1902, this historic watering hole on Williamson Street just recently delved into the rough and tumble world of food service--a decision made in direct response to a drop in business due to the city's smoking ban--so I felt this to be a prime opportunity to sample their fare.

As with every visit we've ever had to Mickey's, the staff was extremely friendly, making us feel right at home in the cozy pub. With six to eight tables for two, which can be easily pushed together for four, and counter seating available at the street-facing window, Mickey's can accommodate about twenty diners. There's no need to wait to be seated--just pick a table and sit down.

On the day of our visit, we were greeted by the owner, Jane Capito, after a few minutes. She kindly made sure that we had menus, but was quick to note that she wasn't the waitress and would send her over right away. I had noticed when we entered that there was only one wait person on shift, so I expected a little bit of a wait. As a former food jockey myself, I understand and empathize with the stress of trying to cover all your tables--a task made that much more difficult when you're the only one. The minutes did tick on, however, and I approached the amiable bartender and asked if he could send over the waitress, which he did.

The waitress informed us that they were only serving brunch that day, so we had to look over the menu again and make new choices. Brunch at 1PM on Saturday? Sure, why not. Later, I overheard her telling another table that this was their first time serving brunch, so an all-day tryout sounded reasonable to me.

Both my father and I ordered Eggs Benedict, while Kevin ordered the humbly named World's Greatest Sandwich. The bartender brought over our drinks--a Spotted Cow for Dad, a Chardonnay for Kevin and a Bloody Mary (aka Bloody Me) for me. The Bloody Mary was exceptionally good, garnished with a big olive and a pickle spear, and just spicy enough. To be honest, I can be a tad wimpish when it comes to hot spices, but this drink was near perfect in that respect.

Our meals arrived and we were ready to dig in. The Eggs Benedict was served in the traditional open-face manner, with poached eggs and ham atop halves of an English muffin and covered with hollandaise sauce. Though I think the ham had been fried instead of broiled--I could be wrong on that--it was nonetheless a notable interpretation of the dish. The hollandaise, which can be tremendously tricky and easily make or break any Eggs Benedict, was creamy but not too heavy, with a very slight hint of lemon. The eggs were poached exactly to the point they should be and not one second longer. The dish included a side of fried potatoes that were a little overdone and could have benefited from more spice, say onion and garlic, but it was a very fulfilling meal overall.

Kevin had ordered the World's Greatest Sandwich, so expectations were high for that particular dish. The sandwich consists of bacon, lettuce, tomato, swiss cheese, fried egg and mayo on toasted sour dough bread. The egg had been fried soft and the yolk was still runny, so it was a bit messy, but his evaluation was a positive thumbs-up, saying that there was no conflict at all between the egg and the mayo. The World's Greatest Sandwich is served with a side of homemade cold slaw, which of course I had to taste. I was impressed by its light yet flavorful vinaigrette, allowing the essence of the raw red and white cabbage to come through. Their menu proclaims it to be "kick..ss" and I wouldn't disagree with that.

Mickey's Tavern is a nice addition to Madison's dining scene and, by the healthy number of patrons on hand during our visit, it's clear that others feel that way, too. If you're in the state capital soon, I recommend you try them for brunch or dinner. They're off to a very solid start and I suspect it can only get better.